Liquid-level indicator



C. l. SMITH LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR June 2, 1925.

Filed Sept. 5.

IN vim-0 f?,

@al-55 Smil/1f,

Patented June 2, r1925. i l 1,539,917 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES I. SMITH, OF THERESA', NEW YORK.

LIQUID-LEVEL INDICATOR.

Application tiledy September 5, 199A. Serial No. 736,125.

l To all whom it may. concern.' imposed strips of transparent glass, through Be it known that I, CHARLES I. SMITH, which the level of the gasolene in saidbody a'citizen of the United States, residing at may be clearly observed, the said trans- ,Theresa, Vin the county of Jefferson and parent coverings being marked to indicate 'I 5 State of New York, have invented certain the proper level of the liquid Aat the start new and useful Improvements in Liquid-A of each vending operation, when the pump, Level Indicators, of which the following is the supply line, and the valves are all 1n a specification. perfect condition; the said transparent -This invention relates to improvements openings also enabling the purchaser, as 10 in liquid level indicators, designed parwell as the vendor, to instantl detect any ticularly for luse in connection vwith the discrepancy or shortage of the predeter-l well-known gasoleneyending machines, and mined measure of the gasolene, by indicathas for its object to provide novel and siming sub-normal levels of the liquid in the ple means for indicating the level ofthe body of the device, due to leakage or other i115 gasolene above the automatic measuring defects. The said body is also formed with pumps, at the start of the vending operaa downward angular discharge branch, lto tions. v which the usual iiexible dispensing hose YIn many of the self-measurin gasolene may be directly connected. pumps in common use at public lling sta- I attain these objects by the means set 20 tions, the gasolene is drawn from lar e forth in the detailed description which folstorage reservoirs into the measuring cy loWs,-and as illustrated by the accompanyinders, preparatory to the delivery of the ing drawing, in whichoil to the tanks of automobiles, by the Figure 1 is an elevational view of' a downward movement of .the pump pistons.l gasolene vending machine of a certain-t pe, 25 This operation is designed', lwhen all of the to which my improvement is applied. ig. parts are in erfect order, to lift a prede- 2 is an enlarged central vertical section, termined num r of gallons ofthe fluid to a taken `on line 2-2 of Fig. 4. Fig3 1s an certain level above the pumps, from whence enlarged front elevation of thenndicator, the fluid Starts to gravitate through the and Fig. 4 is a-h'orizontal section, taken hoseitowards the tanks of the automobiles, 0n line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig.k 5 is an enat the first turn of the crank by the vendor. larged broken elevation of the oil pump, Ordinarily there is. nothing about lthese showing check-valves respectively in the pumping mechanisms to indicate whether or pStOn and in the bOiftOmf the pump Oylnot the exact amount of gasolene purchased inder. r 35 is'v being delivered through the. hose, or Ordinarily the lmain storage tank of a whether the pump is conditioned to lift the filling station is buried in the earth, and full amount of the fluid at each reversal of connects with the measuring pump by means the iston. If there isa leak, 'however of a line of piping, which 1s equipped with smal ,in the pi e line leading from the main suitable valves for controlling the flow of 95 40 reservoir toI t e pump, in the foot-valve, the gasolene towards said pump. All of or in the ump itsel due to faulty packing, these parts being well understop they are there willfbe a cor 'sponding shortage of not shown or described 1n detaiil. v v the predetermined amount of asolene dsl In the drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates .c onplaced by t e piston when t e latter is 'ventionally a gasolene pumping mechanism, 100 moved upwardly by the operation of the which comprises a hollow pedestal-like body usual vending crank. 2, `which rises from an enlarged base 2 The primary object of the present inven- Within the body 2 is dis osed the asolene tion is to provide means for indicating in measuring cylindei' 3, w ich may e supadvance of the vending operations, whether ported in any suitable manner, as by a 105 the pump and related parts are in a perfect ange 2. The bottom end of the cylinder or leaky condition. Tol this end my indcat- 3 is tapped by a feed pipe 4, which conducts mg device comprises an elongated hollow the gasolene from the storage-resevo1r(not bod ,which maybescrewed onto the top end shown) to the (pump. The cylinder .3. is of the usual overhead delivery pipe, the said usually equippeA with a iston 3', which 11 u body being formed with oppositely disis reclprocable -vertically y means of a 1 posed longitudinal openings, over which are rod 3*, the latter' extending upwardly of screws 10'.

'reverse turning of filling the junction of the in the proper condition,

through the cylinder-head 3", above which said rod isl rigidly connected to an alinin rack 3, which is disposed in fa chambere casing 5. Within the chamber 5 is mounted a shaft 6, which is'supported horizontally by bearings 6'-6, and, intermediate said bearings said shaft is fitted with a pinion 3, which meshes with and operates the rack 3, of a crank 7. The full lines in Fig. 1 show the piston 3', the rod 3* and the rack 3 in their u permost positions, which marks the end o a vending operation. The ,subsequent lowering of the piston' 3', tothe dotted position shown in Fig. 1, by the the crank of the said cylinder with a predetermmed amount of fresh gasolene, ready to, be delivered to the next customer, when the piston 3' is raised by the turning of shaft 6. s

The head 3" of the cylinder is shown tapped by, an upright pipe 8, whosetop lthreaded end screws into the lower end of an elongatedhollow fitting 9, which comrises the bod y of my liquid level indicator. hexfront an rear sides of the Abody 9 are formed with similar longitudinal bosses 9', which extend substantially the body and are correspondingly slotted, as at 9*l `(see Fig'. 4) and both bosses are fitted. with similar slotted plates 10, which are secured in place by screws 10'. Between the lates 10i and the lsimi ar windows, comprising transparent glass 12, which are disposed in shallow recesses w strigis o pire erably ich surround the slots of the bosses, and rest u on joints, as t est 12', for sealing the windows 12 are vdisand afford a clear. view ov the interior 9V of the body, when packing y seen in Fig. 4. The

the vfitting is viewed from either the frontor rear sides. The'transparent members 12 are preferably narrower than the plates 10 and are disposed entirely between the rows At one side, the body 9 is formed witha downwardly pointing angular branch 9", to whoselower end the usual flexible dispensing hose 13 may be qapplied by means ofa threaded coupling 13 In order to reach the branch 9", the gasolene that is lifted 4by the u'pstrokes of thev piston 3', flows overa dam 9, which -is located at body and the branch, as shown in Fig. 2. This lifting of the gasolene is eected by` the operation of the crank 7 in the proper direction, and if thejparts of the pump and .measuring mechanism are the gasolene-should start to flow over the dam durin the first turn of the said crank, and ythe ow'of the lene should cease at the' completion of eachupstroke of the iston. According to the arrangement of e vending machine,

. com letes stro e, the gasolene refills the cylinder 3 -aboverthe piston and also wells up `in the when said shaft is rotated by means effects the the length -Y ofv bosses are disposed y f chamber 9 coincides with tHe arrows on assaut the piston is lowered by 'the reverse turn ing of the crank 7, and when the piston its downward or measuring arts 8--9 to a level that coincides with the am`9, as shown 1n Fig. Y.2, ready to flow 'over said dam at the first turn of the crank I. 'nning of the next vending og f 7 at the be eration'. ve lifting and dispensing vof gasolene is controlled by two check-valves, as 3h43. The check-valve 3 is located in the bottom 3* of the cylinder 3,the said valve being arranged to open by the suction of the piston 3 filling the cylinder. -A The valve 3t is located in the piston 3 ward strokes of the iston, by which the contents of the cylin er 3 are forced u wardly into the pipe 8 andthe body 9 of t e indicator, as described.` Y Accordin to the present invention, in order to a ord'the read indication of the pro er level of the gaso ene, at 4the start of vending operation', each of the win-y dows`12 is inscrlbed with an'arrow or other suitable mark, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and'3, sothat when the vnext customer arrives at the filling station, he may instantly note, by simply peering through` .the windows 12, whether'or not the gum ing mechanism is in perfect order, an w ether he is going `to get thecorrect and full'measure of gasolen'e. When the level ofthe gasolene in the the windows, it indicates that there is no leak o1"- other fault in the pump, or in-the Asupply lines at either side of the pump. If however, the level of the solene in charnber 9 shows lower than t e arrows, it will unmistakably indicate that there is -a leak or defect somewhere in" the suppl and delivery lines, or in the pum an that the amount of gasolenethe mec anism isabout to deliver to the automobile, will -fall short of the-predetermined measurement. It often happens lthat the pumping mechanism at a filllngstation is defectlve, and that even the operator ofthe station is unaware of the fault, due to the fact that the sup ly line and/ umping mechanism are entire y lacking 1n facilities for nspectin and determining the causes of short or alse measure, unless the lines or ump are dismantled. The top end of the y 9 is threaded for facilitating the mounting of the usual airvent .-ca as 14 (se'e Fig. 1), which effects the draining of the hose 13 at the end of each dispensing o ration. w

My vliquid leve indicator is extremely sim le and may be produced andinstalled at s ight expense. Byy its use the slightest leak or other defect in the gasolene uring: and vending mechanism may be during itsv upward strokes 'for $9 v andis opened by the downstantly detected by the vendor, aswell by the customer. The device has lno w0rk` lar branch and a dam at the junction of the body and branch over which the liquid iows into the branch, the front and rear walls of said body being formed with openings in line with its longitudinal axis, strips of transparent glass overlying said openings, said strips beine' inscribed with markings that coincide with thelcrest of said dam, and slotted plates for clamping the glass in place. Y

2. In a liquidvlevel indicator for measuring pumps including an overhead delivery pipe, an elongated hollow body adapted to be mounted on the upper end of said'pipc and to receive liquid lifted by the pump, said body being formed with a hollow branch and a dam at the junction of the branch for controlling the level of the liquid in the discharge line between the vending opera` tions, the said body having registering longitudinal openings for affording a view of the height of the liquid in said body, and transparent plates sealing said openings and enabling customers to note the level of the liquid relatively to the crest of the-dam, said plates bearing indices disposed in the plane of the crest of the dam.

3. The combination with a liquid measuring pump and an overhead discharge pipe, of a hollow elongated body mounted on the top end of said pipe and having an'an ular branch adapted to sup ort a dispensing ose,- and a dam for control ing the flow of liquid from the body towards said hose, the opposite walls of the body being formed wlth observation openings, through which the level of the liquid in the body may be seen, and strips of transparent glass closing said openings and bearing marks that colncide with the plane of the crest of the dam for indicating the normal level to which the liquid should be lifted by the pump during the measuring periods; 4. The combination with a gasolene measpipe, of a hollow bodyadapted to be mounted upon the top end of said pipe and to receive the gasolene lifted by the pump. said uring pump including an overhead discharge body being formed with a hollow branch for v conducting the gasolene from the body towards the vending point, and .with a dam at the junction of the body with the branch, said dam representing the normal levelfof the gasolene at the end of the measuring periods, the opposite sides .of the body being formed withsimilar longitudinal bosses having central vertical openings which extend f above and below the dam and areV formed with marginal recesses, and strips of transparent glass disposed in said recesses and overlying said openings, transverse marks in the of the dam for indicating whether or not the pum is conditioned to lift the predetermine measure of gasolene during a vending operation. p

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CHARLES I. SMITH.

sai d strips bearing plane of the crestl 

